COLOMBIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Javier Franco, Franco & Abogados Asociados
7.6 Remedies Where Proceedings Are Commenced in Breach of Foreign Jurisdiction or Arbitration Clauses Such remedies should be assessed on a case-by- case basis. However, a lack of jurisdiction of the Colombian courts could eventually be alleged, as well as the existence of an arbitration clause, if any. In that regard, it should be noted that such situations are to be considered as “preliminary exceptions” within the Colombian traditional civil procedure. Given their nature, those exceptions are given priority by the judge in respect of the decision to be provided on the merits of the claim. 8. Ship-Owners’ Income Tax Relief 8.1 Exemptions or Tax Reliefs on the Income of Ship-Owners’ Companies To date, Colombian tax regulations provide no gen - eral exemptions or specific tax reliefs on the income of ship-owners’ companies. Case-by-case consulta - tion is advisable. See 9. Implications of Non-Perfor- mance, IMO 2020, Trade Sanctions and International Conflict . 9. Implications of Non-Performance, IMO 2020, Trade Sanctions and International Conflict 9.1 Force Majeure and Frustration Force majeure is a concept that is usually recognised by the courts, following the approach that civil law countries usually take regarding that legal institution. Thus, local courts usually recognise that an event must consist of at least two conditions in order to constitute a force majeure: it must be unforeseeable, and it must be unavoidable. It is doubtful whether the COVID-19 pandemic itself could still be considered an event of “force majeure” at this point, since in most cases the situation would no longer be seen as unforeseeable. As Colombia is a civil law country, the legal concept of “frustration” is not a familiar one. However, Colom - bian law has an institution that could be deemed to
share some similarities or points in common with that category of law, known as imprevisión . That legal remedy is contemplated in Article 868 of the Colom - bian Commercial Code, which establishes that one of the parties could request the revision of the con - tract whenever unforeseen and extraordinary circum - stances occurring after the conclusion of a contract (a contract of which the execution is to be projected in time) have altered its obligations, rendering them “excessively onerous”. 9.2 Enforcement of the IMO 2020 Rule Limiting the Sulphur Content of Fuel Oil MARPOL Annex VI is not yet applicable in Colombia. In cases where the fuel concerned is diesel, the appli - cable domestic regulation establishes the quality parameters for diesel fuel and its blends, including a maximum sulphur content of 10 mg/kg (ppm), manda - tory as of 1 January 2025. Accordingly, the 10 ppm sulphur limit constitutes a binding requirement under Colombian law for diesel. Non-compliance may trigger administrative enforce - ment measures under the applicable fuel quality con - trol regime. 9.3 Trade Sanctions Colombia has not yet specifically incorporated any of the international trade sanctions into domestic law nor recognised them at a domestic level, but it has co-operated with several governments (specifically the US government) regarding information exchange. Local companies and individuals have been included in certain restrictive lists whenever links are found between the company (and/or its partners, directives, board members, etc) and illegal activities (particularly money laundering). 9.4 International Conflict There are no specific domestic provisions dealing with this situation.
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